Skating accident ends future with Ice Capades

My career with the Ice Capades ended before it began when I broke my leg while ice skating on Presque Isle Bay.

That's probably good, because the Ice Capades died out a decade or so later, and I would have been left unemployed. Plus I'm not sure how I would have looked in those short skirts and sequins.

But that childhood accident did have some negative repercussions for me.

I know it's why I fear walking on ice or other slippery surfaces, and I'm pretty sure it's why I don't like going to a doctor or the hospital.

Living in Erie, especially in winter and during cold and flu season, it's hard to avoid those circumstances. But I try.

Ice is something I used to love being on.

When my father and grandfather went ice fishing on the bay, I'd go along and skate. They'd take a broom to brush off the snow so my skates wouldn't stick and also to reveal any holes left by previous people out fishing. While my dad and grandfather fished, I did figure eights and even attempted small jumps.

I liked skating so much that if I couldn't get on the bay, I'd do it on my city street. This was back when we were lucky if snowplows passed our house twice in the same winter. So there was usually packed snow and ice on the street. Conditions weren't the greatest for skating, but my friends and I did it anyway.

Then came the day when I broke my leg in a freak accident. We had actually finished skating and were on our way off the bay when I slipped and fell, twisting my leg beneath me.

The result was a trip to the emergency room and a cast that covered me from my thigh to my toes and was bent at the knee. After six weeks, the doctor took the cast off and told me to straighten my leg. When I couldn't, he yelled, I cried, and the male nurse or attendant in the room started making fun of me, calling me "Miss Ow Ow" because that was the sound I made when the doctor pushed down on my knee.

Ever since, I've avoided ice and dreaded doctor offices.

Normally a fast walker, I take baby steps when traveling across a frozen parking lot and am likely to grab onto the arm of anyone nearby if I feel myself slipping.

Usually not one to get sick, when it does happen, I put off going to the doctor until the symptoms become unbearable even though I've come across plenty of nice and caring health-care professionals in the years since.

Most recently was during a visit to a hospital to have a test done. It wasn't particularly scary or painful, but I was glad to have a wonderful woman in the room with the two doctors. She set everything up, explained what would be taking place and stood by my side, talking to me and patting my arm.

Her kindness, calm and concern had me completely at ease and thinking that hospitals aren't so bad after all.

But I'm still not ready to lace up skates and risk another visit to the emergency room.

The skaters with Disney on Ice, a successor to the Ice Capades, have nothing to worry about. I won't be auditioning for any of their show spots.